[Ophthalmic zoster: an uncommon dermatosis in infants]

We here report the case of a 9-month infant, born to a mother with a history of varicella in the third trimester of pregnancy but with no history of atopy, admitted to the emergency room with painful, pruritic rash in the right hemiface that had been ongoing for 4 days. During physical examination, the infant appeared to be in pain, with multiple cluster of grouped vesicles on erythematous skin in the right hemiforehead, in the right side of the nose and in the right cheek associated with edema of the upper and lower eyelids, with difficulty opening eyes and purulent conjunctival secretions. The infant was afebrile and in a good general condition. Ophthalmologic examination using the slit-lamp and fundus examination were normal. Complete blood count was normal. The diagnosis of ophthalmic zoster was retained on the basis of the clinical appearance of the lesions. The infant was treated with intravenous Aciclovir for 10 days associated with symptomatic local antiseptic treatment. Patient's evolution was marked by the regression of vesicular lesions and of edema. Viral serologic test and rapid HIV test were negative. The particularity of our study is the occurrence of ophthalmic zoster in an immunocompetent infant, which is rare in children. We made three differential diagnoses which included Kaposi-Juliusberg syndrome, cutaneous infection due to herpes simplex virus and facial erysipelas.